Automated Daydreaming

by William Pauley III

This is a cycle. Unalleviated, its components are connected by electricity and fed through the rage of lightning. Insect and road monsters scour the desert. Bodies morph into new constructions, only partially human and searching for conclusion. Tongues entwine in an embrace of benthos, while mermaids and jellyfish glow in tandem. The moon is waiting. Dream.

(back cover description by Jane Camp)

Genres: Horror, Science Fiction, Fiction, Audiobook, Bizarro Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Fantasy

306 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 31, 2016

About the author

Read/listen at www.doomfiction.com

"The beauty of Pauley’s work is that he makes the reader (relatively) comfortable with these fun, weird elements and then injects the narrative with short bursts of deep thinking and questions that cut to the marrow of human nature." — Gabino Iglesias, author of The Devil Takes You Home

William Pauley III has been praised by critics and readers alike for his contributions to weird science fiction and horror over the last 15 years. He's received rave reviews from Fangoria Magazine, Verbicide, and Dead End Follies, the latter stating "William Pauley III is one of the most recognizable voices in weird literature." He is the author of The Bedlam Bible, Hearers of the Constant Hum, and Automated Daydreaming. He lives in Lexington, KY.

Reviews

[Janie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a cycle.  Unalleviated, its components are connected by electricity and fed through the rage of lightning.  Insect and road monsters scour the dessert.  Bodies morph into new constructions, only partially human and searching for conclusion.  Tongues entwine in an embrace of  benthos, while mermaids and jellyfish glow in tandem.  The moon is waiting.  Dream.

[William III · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listen to Connor Brannigan's brilliant performance of this novel in audio format for FREE through Spotify, Apple, Google Podcasts, Anchor, and YouTube! All ten parts now streaming! (links below)

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5fnmHQ8...

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...

Google: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0...

Anchor: https://anchor.fm/automateddaydreaming

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaapE...

If you would like to own the audio edition of this book and/or listen to the entire performance uninterrupted, you can purchase it here: https://www.audible.com/pd/Automated-...

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC audiobook provided in exchange for an honest review.

As always, the narration on this book by Connor Brannigan was fantastic! He can put on so many characters voices, you’d believe there were 6 different people talking! The story itself is true horror in its purest form. This author is an automatic read for me! I would definitely recommend to anyone who enjoys creepy stories and doesn’t have too many triggers.

[Rodney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I​ ​have​ ​read​ ​bits​ ​and​ ​pieces​ ​of​ ​Automated​ ​Daydreaming​ ​over​ ​the​ ​last​ ​few​ ​years​ ​within the short stories Nosebleed/Cablejuice,​ ​The​ ​Mermaid’s​ ​Gallows,​ ​and​ ​If​ ​You​ ​Don’t​ ​Sleep,​ ​You​ ​Don’t​ ​Dream.​ ​The complete​ ​story​ ​is​ ​finally​ ​told​ ​here.​ ​More​ ​than​ ​worth​ ​the​ ​wait,​ ​this​ ​was​ ​an​ ​all​ ​consuming​ ​read.​ ​The five​ ​lives​ ​are​ ​explained​ ​and​ ​tied​ ​seamlessly​ ​together​.​ ​The​ ​structure​ ​was​ ​a​ ​plus,​ ​the numbering​ ​of​ ​the​ ​sections​ ​a​ ​guide​ ​to​ ​the​ ​experience.​ ​The​ ​enigma​ ​that​ ​is​ ​Perry​ ​Gordon​ ​has​ ​a haunting​ ​presence,​ ​and​ ​Bricker​ ​Cablejuice​ ​is​ ​about​ ​as​ ​unique​ ​as​ ​they​ ​come.​ ​As​ ​more​ ​of​ ​each identity​ ​reveals​ ​itself,​ ​the​ ​lush​ ​yet​ ​accessible​ ​prose​ ​matches​ ​the​ ​atmosphere​ ​perfectly.​ ​From start​ ​to​ ​finish,​ ​an​ ​all​ ​time​ ​favorite​ ​read​ ​for​ ​me.

[Matthew Vaughn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is yet another book that shows William Pauley's superb skill as a writer. I had read a couple of the pieces in this book in the past, but assembled here with the other stories that I had not read and tied nicely together made for an excellent read.

[Tressa Laux · Rating 4 out of 5]

WUT

Well that was a wild read. Not even sure how I feel about it, but it definitely kept me engaged. I really liked the style of writing and the creativity is top notch, even when I was confused and repulsed I still wanted to know more. The book has some graphic sexual violence that made me uncomfortable (and to be honest one scene in particular felt gratuitous and unnecessary) but I somehow still think this book is pretty awesome. It’s very unique and if you are expecting a neatly wrapped package you should skip it. But for me it was a crazy trip, and I’d definitely take another ride with this author.

[Donald Armfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the chance to read the Mermaid Gallows awhile back and was hooked, waiting eagerly for the release of this book.

Automated Dreaming is like "Slaughterhouse Five" with a scientific dream sequence in some kind of weird surrealistic time warp.
Highly recommend this book.

[Grant Wamack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Immortality has been glamorized for ages. William Pauley III explores the dark side of immortality in his ambitious novel Automated Daydreaming: The Five Lives of Bricker Cablejuice.

Last year, I was lucky enough to read the poignant chapbook The Mermaid’s Gallow. It turns out to be one section of this book. Just imagine a group of dying mermaids, a suicidal couple and jellyfish drugs. If you’re not sold already, you might be mad.

The book opens with a brief explanation of the events preceding Bricker Cablejuice’s sad ass story. A couple of cops stumble up the mutilated remains of Airman Bricker Cablejuice in a church along with a letter from Dr. Perry Gordon. Gordon leaves instructions on how to download Cablejuice’s consciousness and read his thoughts in real time. From this point, the cops are able to read about the dream-like lives of Cablejuice and come to the realization that he is still ticking.

The narrative moves in dizzying spirals a la Uzumaki. You get a intimate view into Bricker Cablejuice’s five lives. They’re all extremely different and immersive. You experience his brief military career, the realization of his immortality, his run-ins with Perry Gordon who may be a genius and/or a madman. It’s a collage of Cronenbergian dark vibes that I couldn’t get enough of.

Automated Daydreaming is a surreal, hallucinatory exploration of the dark side of immortality and science. I’ve read the majority of William Pauley III’s catalogue and this one towers above the rest. I have a feeling he’s really starting to hit his stride and I can’t wait to see what he has in store for us in 2017.

[Nelli Lakatos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Automated Daydreaming was a truly excellent read, full of action, weirdness and excitement! As always the narration was phenomenal by Connor Brannigan, just like the story. William Pauley III is an absolutely incredible author so far this was my favorite by him!

I highly recommend reading this brilliant book and also all of Pauley’s works, every single book he writes is honestly just perfect!

Thank you @netgalley and @doomfiction for an AudioARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

[Karla · Rating 4 out of 5]

**Goodreads giveaway

Another odd and crazy book! Grateful to have won books by this author or I may never have discovered him. Weird in the best way possible, can never guess what I'm good to read from page to page

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listening to the life of Bricker Cablejuice, or should I say five multiverse life alternatives, you might think one at least would be fun filled. But for him all are experienced constantly cycling/re-cycling in a horror filled experience. Relief in death can’t come quick enough, yet death is not a possibility. Have I learned from this audio experience? Yes, the multiverse is not nearly as pleasant as the movies make out, and mermaids are more likely a reality than a positive outcome to the challenges life brings. Four stars - even William Pauley III doesn’t escape this nightmare. (But this audio is superbly written and produced horror!)Thank you to Doom Fiction and NetGalley for the audio ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

[Marvin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three and a half stars.

I'm in a quandary here...A three and a half star vs four star quandary.

Have you ever read a brilliant piece of work but came away unsettled? That is how I felt after reading Automated Daydreaming: The Five Lives of Bricker Cablejuice. William Pauley III is clearly a brilliant writer, His words have both complexity and intimacy. They are intelligent and powerful. Yet somewhere along the beautiful sentences the sum doesn't quite equal the parts.

In Automated Daydreaming we are confronted with a grisly crime, the torture and killing a somewhat celebrated person called The Television Man. Shortly afterwards, the man accused of the crime sends the police a letter stating that the tortured man, Bricker Cablejuice, wanted these atrocities to be done to him, is not actually dead, and explains a way that one can not only verify that claim but also tap into his thoughts. The rest of the book involves the thoughts and experiences of Bricker, the five lives that he is living simultaneously, and eventually points to a very troubling possibility regarding reality.

What entails is an almost free association, psychedelic mixture of lives, thoughts, and time blended together. Other writers have done similar things, I am reminded while reading this of Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five and, slightly less so, Dalton Trumbo's Johnny Got His Gun. Pauley's take involves a literal switching of channels that brings in focus various lives, hence the Television Man nickname. But in real life, if one switches channels too quickly it just becomes a jumble of sound and images. I think that is what happens too often here.

I am told that this book was originally five different short stories that were published previously but originally written to eventually come into existence as this novel. If that is true, it makes sense. I especially loved the segment about the mermaids and found it the most moving part of the book. Yet when the stories are placed together as one, it just doesn't equal the brilliance of the parts. I think it gets lost in the complexity of the idea.

William Pauley III is a writer to watch out for. But I think I would have preferred to read these stories separately than in this intricate but disorienting work. It is still excellent and I do recommend it, hence the wavering over 3 & 1/2 vs 4 stars. It is a challenging novel to read, which is a plus by the way, and takes a commitment despite the relatively short under 200 pages length. If one is willing to do that, it is worth the reading and, most importantly, will lead the reader to wonder what else this skillful writer can throw at us.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note to self, if anyone ever offers you a way to escape from your life/who you are just say NO!




Every time I sit down to read something by Pauley it's an adventure. I never know what kind of mixed bag of crazy I'm in for.


I loved the concept and formatting of this book that had me gathering up tidbits of how Bricker Cablejuice got himself into this situation. The flipping through different channels when moving to another life/consciousness and getting abruptly dropped into the middle of someone else's experience definitely added another level of crazy to the story. I felt like I was getting a little taste of the confusion and loss of control Bricker would have been feeling.



Each of the stories on their own were wonderful, but at times it did feel like there were some cohesion issues between the different stories and the book as a whole. It just felt like there was something missing that could have tied everything together just a little bit more.


As and aside I also listened to the audio book and Connor Brannigan, does an amazing job bring each of the characters and the story to life. Highly recommend the audio book

[S.T. Cartledge · Rating 4 out of 5]

This latest offering from William Pauley III sure is something. It's a great something. It's bold and ambitious. I loved it, but I wasn't 100% sold on it. On one side it's a novel with an interesting concept. On the other side, it's a collection of stories with interconnected themes. It jumps around a lot, but I think the stories distracted too much from the overarching narrative. After reading this, I'm not sure exactly what happened in the main story throughout the book. I felt like the glimpses weren't enough to drive that portion of the book forward. It's a really engaging book full of excellent stories and characters. I love the violence and originality within. There was just a bit of cohesion lost in the reading that left me wanting to immerse myself deeper into the story.

[Rae Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a digital copy of this book through a Goodreads giveaway. (Thank you, Mr. Pauley!) This is also my first time reading a work by this author.

Immortality doesn’t appeal to me. Immortality times five equals a level of Hell that would break anyone. Bricker Cablejuice discovers that he can’t die, and into his life comes Dr. Perry Gordon, a man all too eager to show him the purpose of his “gift”.

Despite the sadness the novel evoked in me, I couldn’t put it down. I needed to know the outcome of these lives, even if it wasn’t pleasant. I suspect that it’s going to stay in my thoughts for quite a while.

I’ve added Mr. Pauley to my author list, and I am looking forward to reading more of his work. I would recommend this book to others.

[nikreadsnrambles · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m convinced that anything William Pauley III writes and Connor Brannigan narrates, I WILL read it or listen to it.
This book, much like the other I listened to, is so weird and exciting. This book was longer than the astronauts dream book, and it was packed full of strangeness. I love the descriptions given, I love that WPIII will take one weird detail and just run with it. There wasn’t anything about this book that I didn’t like. I can’t wait to enjoy more!
Thank you to NetGalley and William Pauley III for the opportunity to listen and review this story

[William III · Rating 5 out of 5]

Get this book free (today only): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KGZMWX6/...

[Keith Long · Rating 5 out of 5]

You see me waving an arm to get your attention. The arm I’m waving isn’t mine. I flag you down and follow you even though you don’t stop walking. I begin to talk at a manic pace, dragging the arm behind. My breath is bad and there is something in my mouth.

“Bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit. Bullshit bullshit?”

You try not to look at me. I smack you with the severed arm. It claps against your ear with a cold doughy sting. You feel something slimy wriggle into your ear, transforming my words.

“Bullshit bullsh-have you ever heard of William Pauley? Not the original or the sequel, but the third one. He’s a trilogy. I don’t know if you know this, but he’s a writer guy, you know, with words, and all of his works are in one interconnected universe, or like five, but let’s not get into that just yet, and anyway I did like a real deep dive into his stuff, and I read every single one of his books and short stories and I even read that OooOoo screenplay and the Danny Devito in hell one, and so now I feel like I just got to tell somebody, like proselytize, and and…”

You hasten your steps, I toss aside the limp arm. It makes an unpleasant sound on the sidewalk. It’s then that you notice I’m not wearing anything except for a DOOM Fiction™ shirt, but worn as pants. You try not to look, but an errant glance tells you where the neck hole sits. I hop skip alongside your wide gait, still chewing something.

“Okay, let’s take it from the top, or the bottom, it’s all connected, right? HAHA. I started at Holus Bolus, and boy was I hooked, but you can start wherever. I’m telling you, I felt weird just reading it, like the story — the Eighth Block Tower — was creeping into my brain.”

I spit out wet wads of magazine cud, scratch my tongue, then continue.

“There’s so many inexplicable things going on and the more DOOM Fiction you read, the more you get infected, you stop thinking things are weird: purple TV’s, huffing cockroach dust, killing people with Nintendo accessories — it’s just how it is in the world of Eighth Block. By the end of Holus Bolus, I was in tune with that crazy hum and I cared for these characters that seemed so insane at first. I mean, the ending is shockingly emotional. I mean I know I’m not crazy, not like the residents of Eighth Block, HAHA.”

We come to a redlight, you cannot cross. I have you trapped by traffic. I remove a glowing green syringe from somewhere inside my shirt-pants. You flinch but I inject it into my butt. You regret walking past the Eighth Block as the light turns green. 

“So then I keep reading the writer guys books and I realize that things are starting to connect, you know? I jump into the Doom Magnetic Trilogy and I’m seeing familiar names. Stuff is still insane, but it’s just shy enough of nonsense that I start seeing patterns, connections! The purple TV keeps showing up, that giant green brain, people turning into freaky stuff, and the dreams, they all keep bubbling up like acid reflux. Then I notice the Tower is underwater in some kind of black sea in Twelve Residents Dreaming, or was it the First Life of Anacoy Marlin…  and then I realized it was continuously raining in some of these other stories! Coincidence? NO! The grotesque and bizarre becomes comfy and normal in DOOM Fiction. Each time I get answers to questions, I’m left wanting to ask and know more. In Hearers of the Constant Hum, maybe for the first time, maybe not, you meet the Crunk brothers who are so fun to read and have such a great banter, you’re left wanting more of them, but then you find out they have their own book called The Brother’s Crunk, and then they keep showing up everywhere, and little by little you start to fit into this wacko world — you become a resident of the Eighth Block Tower. I thought White Fuzz was insane when I read it, it was only like my second bump of DOOM, and I wasn’t sure if I missed something, yet I loved it, but the more I read, the more that uneven feeling of having glimpsed something lurking in the background becomes normal. If you keep reading, digging into the drywall, you find a name keeps getting passed around. Old Joe Booth. You get a little more scared. You read Twelve Residents Dreaming, and you start to wonder about things. The stories are lingering in your mind too long, but you read more. In Astronaut Dream Book, you see connections all over the place, half-remembered moments that ring familiar. You read Automated Daydreaming and you really begin to wonder what the picture is that these pieces make up, because you want to know, you have to know. You know?”

You begin running down the street away from me and I sprint after, yelling.

“Jellyfish juice! @William Pauley III! Purple TV’s! Happiness! Jubilicide! TOWER NEON! The Dreams! It’s all connected, don’t you see!? Twelve! Five! Ashok burn right hand of men! To Neptune, rebirth in blue fire!! 

You escape, barely. You lean over breathing hard and feel a horrible pain where I hit you with the wet arm. A small faucet is growing out of your ear.

https://losersfiction.substack.com/p/...

[Dea Farrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the beginning of the book we meet Bricker Cablejuice, a man who is stuck living a life of immortality in a state of Automated Daydreaming. A scientist named Perry Gordon who is accused of murdering Bricker confesses that he put Bricker in this immortal unconscious state, and that he can prove that Bricker is still alive if the police will download Bricker's consciousness and watch the different channels. What follows is the 5 different channels or "lives" of Bricker.

The five different channels or lives of Bricker take you on very different journeys. These lives are gruesome, outlandish, vile and make you think, "What the actual hell just happened?" From vivid imagery to gorey details this book takes the reader on one imaginative journey that will leave you thinking...What is real? Where does it end? Where does it begin?


This is not usually a genre I delve into,  but I did find it an entertaining read.  The differing concepts of Bricker's lives were captivating and original. William Pauley III's prose is structurally unique and serves to deliver the story in a way that stands out from traditional authors. This makes Automated Daydreaming a very visually fun to read book.

Thank you William Pauley III for gifting me a copy of this book.

[althea · Rating 4 out of 5]

absolutely brilliant and unique storytelling that made it simultaneously difficult to follow yet interest piquing enough that you couldn't quite put it down. a creative execution of a short story collection and a brilliant way to wrap it all together. save for a few loose ends and "written for the shock factor" instances, i loved it.

[Natasha · Rating 2 out of 5]

ADVANCED READER COPY
Wow, this book was a disappointment. The beginning made sense: a person lives five lives simultaneously due to an experiment. Rather than chapters, the book was split between different 'channels' or one of those five lives. I know with sci-fi, one can be liberal in absurd ideas. However, this book took a left turn and left me feeling confused. One moment it was an explicit "Little Mermaid" and next it was the poor man's "Neon Genesis Evangelion." And let's not forget two graphic descriptions of sexual assault, which was so over the top I felt the writer was aroused by this trauma. The book had potential at the beginning, but than took a serious downturn. And also, who is the woman on the cover?

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm hovering actually around 3.5 stars, but im currently feeling on the generous side.

Automated Daydreaming opens with a news article detailing the discovery of the desicrated remains of Bricker Cablejuice and the note sent by Dr. Gordon, Bricker's supposed killer, telling the police that Bricker was in fact alive. He's an immortal living 5 different lives in 5 different world, as Gordon wired Bricker into the multiverse. He tells the police how to access Brickers stream of conscious which is in a state Automated Daydreaming where he can switch effortlessly between the 5 lives he's living. Gordon explains the lives continously loop and as the loop approaches it end it becomes more and more unraveled and the lives seem to even overlap.
After this we read one of these loop in the Automated Daydream.

Before the start of this book is the Nikola Tesla qoute "you may live to see man-made horrors beyond your comprehension" and while this book is extremely interesting there are some scenes that fully embody that quote. For this reason I'm hesitant to recommend it. While some of these scenes have an impact on the rest of the story (stories?) there is one in particular that serves seemingly no purpose other than to be horrifying. And it achieves that, but I hesitate to subject others to it.

Aside from that this book evokes a lot of the same "what is real?" (Or more precisely "what the actual fuck") feelings that I remember having reading Slaughter House 5, and I can see many people smarter than I am dissecting this book in the future. I can see myself in an alternate universe (ha) writing a paper arguing that Bricker is dead, was never immortal at all, and Gordon is simple endlessly torturing an ai based on Bricker.

Then I swing around and wonder if that last chapter actually suggests in each universe that version of Gordon has cyborged and linked that universe's pov character's consciousness and that scene is the link between the 5. Is each universe discovering their own pov's characters remains? Are there 5 different copies if this book floating around with 5 different opening letters?

Overall a very interesting, addictive, and (mostly) fun read, and id like to thank Doom Fiction and Goodreads for sending it to me.

[Joy Rosales · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of this ebook in a Goodreads giveaway. I don’t know that horror is for me, if I was rating solely on personal enjoyment (which I usually do) this would have gotten a 3 star, but I felt like this was so well written and I loved how all the story threads were woven together, so I bumped it up to a 4 star, which I think it deserves.

[Myridia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Automated Nightmaring might be a more accurate, if less melodic, title for this novel. Don't be fooled by the cool cover and poetic summary - this is an extremely disturbing book. Two particular scenes were twisted, gratuitous, and pornographic, which I daresay will turn the stomach of even seasoned horror and true-crime fans. It certainly did for me. (In short, if you prefer books to have trigger warnings on them, do not attempt to read this or be prepared to DNF around the 30% mark. There's no table of contents on the Kindle edition, so I don't have an exact page number, nor do I want to go back and find it.)

The rest of the story was intriguing, and the level of morbidly fascinating that I expected. I enjoyed the premise of an immortal man's consciousness uploaded to the cloud, allowing him to live five lives at once. There is a psychedelic quality to some of the characters' experiences, and figuring out how the storylines fit together kept me going. Unfortunately, I had several gripes with the writing style, mostly in the 2nd half of the book. Spoiler alerts to follow.

Plot:
I liked the overall structure of the book, even though jumping between timelines confused me at points, until I realized each chapter number was one of the 5 channels (lives) on Bricker's brain-switch. Adam/Lazarus and Flynn's storylines were my least favorite (due to the graphic rape scenes presented in each one), though the disjointed nature of Adam's narration was a nice touch indicating his descent into madness. My favorite was the unnamed woman of channel 23 - I might have forgotten her name, but it was the most emotionally charged POV and the most surreal. I never expected mermaids to appear in a novel that reads like hard sci-fi, but it was an interesting addition. I wonder if the mermaids' deaths, and the fact that they numbered 13 in all, had any special significance for the story - if so, I might have missed the symbolism.

Gordon and Bricker are the common elements between the storylines, and it later becomes clear that Gordon has experimented on and dismembered all 5 immortals, irreversibly connecting their minds in the ether. The ending is trippy, sending us back to the beginning for an eternal loop which constitutes the "automatic daydreaming." Though the mad-scientist-playing-God concept isn't new, I liked the spin put on it - where Gordon believes immortality is the next phase in human evolution, and that he can add to it by separating consciousness from the body. But he never gets past the simulation stage. He's addicted to his power over other minds, proof of the darkness that emerges time and again in the human race and which we'll likely never shed no matter how fast we think we're evolving. And maybe we've never really moved forward in the first place; our primal, violent tendencies are simply repressed to conform to social standards, and there's no telling when they might awaken.

Writing Style:
The first third of the book was engaging and well written, with some emotional and philosophical musings that made me sympathize with the different characters. 23's story particularly tugged at my heartstrings. But I was jolted out of the immersion by several things - the graphic scenes (which I won't re-discuss), Bricker's over-narration, and the gradual decrease in writing quality.

First, the writing style doesn't match that of the summary, which was what drew me to the book in the first place, so I felt a little disappointed and misled. From the ~40% mark onward, I also started seeing grammatical/syntax errors here and there, along with excessive wordiness, as if the editing job had suddenly stopped there. Plus, Bricker tends to preface or end every other chapter with lines like "the following visions came..." or "memories swirl..." or "static and then I was seeing visions again..." which started to get on my nerves - I was already well aware that he was changing channels from the first few chapters and didn't need constant reminders. I ended up skimming for the rest of the book so I wouldn't have to reread every other sentence twice, and didn't feel like I missed much unfortunately.

Some examples of subpar writing (not comprehensive):

"xxxxxx would have to have been much older than this man. xxxxxx would have surely been dead by now. No way in all of Hell that the man on the street was one in the same. In all of Hell. No way." (One in the same and one and the same are not the same...)

"... I noticed the white v-neck t-shirt I was wearing was stained with a concoction that looked to be two parts blood, one part motor oil. Who's blood? I wasn't sure..." (Who's vs whose should have been easily caught.)

"The topside of the gloves sported a patch of mirrored metal studs that shined like a fist of diamonds under the sun." (Shined and shone have very different usages.)

"The waitress sighed and smashed it [the cricket] violently against the countertop with a spoon. Yellow insect guts spurted out from beneath the utensil as its armored skin popped and split apart from the weight crushing down upon it." (This one was just hard to get through with all the inserted words, plus "utensil" sounded awkward.)

"The man with the knife clinched his jaw and punched Scarface square in the nose with his knife-packed fist." (Wait, he was holding a knife? And don't get me started on clinched vs clenched...)

"The shattered glass glitter-sparkled on the ground outside the phone booth as if the dirt was fertile with imperfect diamonds." (Glitter-sparkled? Why use 2 words that mean exactly the same thing?)

Call me picky, but things like this distract from the text's purpose, and no reader should have to stop to reread a sentence and sift through typos and stylistic gaffes. It reduces any positive impact the book might otherwise have.

In the spirit of fairness, however, I'll qualify my complaints with several passages I really enjoyed for their poetic structure and emotional punch. It's a shame that there wasn't more of this throughout the story.

"A song played on the stereo called 'Your Funeral, My Trial' and I stared at the sky, my face basking in the pale moonlight, as the man on the radio sang about his guilt, his shame, and I looked at the moon as he sang about her, how her beauty was worthless, and I felt the same. We listened to the song on repeat until we caught up to the end of the world: the ocean, the salty sea. I hadn’t seen it in so long. So many years wasted on other things— other loves, other feelings, other beauties—but nothing compared to this, this moment here with her at the edge of the earth. Nothing ever came close."

"... I knew better than to believe in peace, but in that moment I was feeling something that felt close enough to it to call it that. The night felt electric. My feet felt rooted inside a mechanical earth. I was part of the machine, part of its strange nature, a human somehow evolving and de-evolving all at once. I felt closeness, I heard the heartbeat of god in the soil."

"You and all the lives you know exist only in my creation, this simulation within a simulation. You are the product. You are the experiment. You are the subject. Your life has already been lived, spent, and now you are forever dreaming. Day after day the dreams return. They are cyclical and automatic. Automated daydreaming. All my creation. You are a lie. Nothing is real.”

The occasional good moments such as the above, and the strength of the premise, were among this book's redeeming qualities. I just wish the execution had been more consistent in terms of content and writing style. I can't say I hated this book, though I strongly disliked parts of it, so it gets a 3 star from me.

[adaynasmile · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an interesting book. I have purposely put off reviewing the book in order to kind of dwell on the book. The writing is well done. I found myself pulled in and fascinated throughout the book. I was confused at times about what was going on, but the pictures that were painted by Pauley's words were very vivid. For the most part this was wonderful, as the images were fantastic and interesting. At times though it was very disturbing. There were a few scenes that were so hard to read and I thought a bit unnecessary, however, the majority of the story was intriguing and the journey was interesting to follow on. The end, it really hit me for some reason. It definitely is an interesting concept.

[Pedro Proença · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing. Full review to come.

[Pauline Stout · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trigger warnings; violent SA, extended scenes of SA, medical torture, surgical scenes, blood/gore, violence, death/murder, death of a child

At the start of this book we meet out main character, who everyone thinks is dead because he is basically a jar of various organs. That is until the police get a letter from the doctor who is wanted for the man’s murder. The doctor is quite insistent that said jar of various organs is indeed alive and just has to be hooked up to a computer to prove it. Once that is done the thoughts of the MC will be able to be read off of it. Our MC is now hooked up to the multiverse and as he is now immortal, it is impossible for the doctor to have killed him. Is our MC (who is in fact alive) really hooked up to this, able to watch and live the lives of multiple people, or is it the fever dream of the massively tortured.

I have conflicting feelings about this book. Many sections were very well written. The various lives that we dipped our toes into were for the most part fascinating. I absolutely flew through this in a day because I was so engrossed in the story. No one in this story is having a good life though. Almost everyone is at least depressed. Many of them either have terrible things done to them, do terrible things to other people, or both.

This is very much not for the faint of heart. Each of the lives dips into seriously troubling/traumatizing subject matters. Each of the people that you follow are functionally immortal but they don’t want to be. All of them talk in depth about how they want to die and how they want to kill themselves but they can’t. Also immortal doesn’t also mean invulnerable. Many of the people you follow suffer from some kind of serious illness or trauma. And I do mean suffer. For example, they can’t die but that means the cancer can’t kill them.

There are many scenes of extreme violence of some kind. They really didn’t bother me much even though many of the scenes are over the top brutal violent. What did bother me was the graphic descriptions of SA. There were two scenes that were directly described (the first one goes by quick (but is still upsetting) but the second one goes into traumatizing detail. The woman is literally SAed to death. It is deeply unpleasant to read and I really wish it wasn’t included. It was 100% not plot relevant and cutting it wouldn’t have taken away from the plot at all. SA is deeply woven into the plot of the book for other reasons also and I severely recommend staying away from this if that’s a trigger for you.

I really struggled to come up with a star rating for this. I was honestly leaning to a two star review but I decided that the parts that I liked made it lean more to a three.

I can’t emphasize enough how hard this book can be to read at points. If any of them trigger warnings bother you, do not read this book. I think I recommend for readers that can handle the trigger warnings however.

[Steve Koyasako · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received a copy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily. This book. began promisingly, with the premise the discovery of a man who has been dissected and plugged into electronic devices. He is thought to be dead, but further analysis shows him to be alive and in a stated of "automatic daydreaming". He is/was a man with unusual gifts that allowed him to survive a fall from an airplane at high altitude as a paratrooper in the military. He was then apparently operated on by a mad scientist, who did the same to four other individuals, whose stories appear in the book.

As the book progresses, the writing becomes more and more disjointed and incomprehensible. In most of the book, it starts to be written in prose poetry style on the page instead of normal sentences and paragraphs. The speaking style of some of the characters are irritating as well, with one Lazarus character tending to talk like Yoda, with the verb at the end of the sentence.

I usually plod through all my free books, no matter how much I disagree with them, but in this case, I just couldn't make it all the way through. The bodily injury, gore, and violence throughout were too much for me, and I ended up just skimming my way through some of it to see if it was any different.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this audiobook from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Usually, I love Pauley's books, and I have read nearly everything he has written. While I usually give Pauley's books 5 stars, this one didn't land as nicely as the others. Honestly, I think I was too triggered by this book. For example, there was one particularly graphic scene of rape with a truly "bizarro fiction" twist. It was too much. The writing was so vivid, and it was so disgusting that it literally turned my stomach.

The above being said, I am still giving this book 4 stars. Pauley is a master at description. It is what I love about his writing. Connor Brannigan returns as the narrator; his performance was as great as usual. Bricker Cablejuice (great character name) is immortal, and he is forced to live the lives of 5 other people through "automated daydreaming." It was a little confusing how the lives intertwined as Cablejuice "switched between channels." Each of the lives was very interesting and unique.

If you're looking for a light and fluffy read, this is not the book for you. But if you're interested in a dark, weird, vivid, and imaginative story, then Automated Daydreaming is definitely worth checking out. Just be prepared for some disturbing content.

[Nicole Zimmerman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Automated Daydreaming is a haunting novel about the dark side of immortality. There are several VERY uncomfortable sections and the general feeling of the book shifts halfway through. The addition of the gratuitous rape scenes that start at this point are the reason why. I ended up speeding up during those sections because they added nothing to the experience for me.
The concept was very fascinating but the execution was just off for me. I spread through because it is written well and I wanted to know how it was going to all wrap-up but, but I found myself caring very little about the middle and then let down by the ending. There is one section that is FANTASTIC and after that everything fell flat.
Connor Brannigan also does a fantastic job of narrating this novel. He captures the vibe of this book perfectly and channels both the format of the narrative and also the emotion of the characters which saved the experience for me.
Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a free ARC copy of the audiobook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.